Masked Rivalries
by The Walking Stranger
Summary: The Causality Continuum is drastically altered after The Third survived his encounter with Yuki and Yuno on the roof. How will this change the lives of all the Diary owners, and how will Hiyama Takao and his nemesis, Yomotsu Hirasaka, the Twelfth, hunt each other down to the bitter end?


**A/N: **I am _addicted _to Mirai Nikki. Everything from the manga to the abridged parody series on YouTube. However, there is one huge thing I don't exactly find awesome about it: how the most blood-thirsty of the Diary owners got killed off in the first twenty minutes! Ironically, he was also my favorite Diary holder. So I could not help but wonder, what would happen to the entire game if Takao Hiyama survived and continued his conquest across the city? There are a few people I would like to thank...

**Pyromania101: **You know what you did, and I thank you for it, even though you initially found this story to be too dark for you. What else do you expect from me?

**Phen0m20: **thanks for both this, and everything you've done for me these past several months.

**The 19th Angel: **I am pretty sure we are both rather insane. But whatever. Thanks for everything.

**XXXXXX**

**April 25th, evening.**

Hiyama Takao, arguably better known as the serial killer terrorizing the city he seemed to haunt, stumbled out of the music building of a condemned art university and into the cool and clear young night as he groaned in pain. It was quiet to everyone else, but not to him. His ears were ringing up a storm. It hurt so much his vision was blurry and he was seeing double. Everything seemed to zoom in and out and turn slightly. He covered his ears with his gloved hands, knowing it would not help at all, he but did it anyway. They had outsmarted him. That damn terrorist and her cop boyfriend. They had delivered a blow onto him in one of the extremely few ways he was physically vulnerable: with extreme noise.

As he continued to walk with tremendous struggle, his hands holding his aching head, he vowed to himself that he would kill those two irritating assailants slowly and painfully. Whoever he killed first, the other would be forced to watch. He didn't care who left this life first...

**XXXXXX Several days later XXXXXX**

"There's no way it could be that easy," Hiyama said to himself as he read the entries in his Murder Diary. According to it, all he had to do was simply walk into the temple grounds, and then once inside he would have the opportunity to take out other Diary owners. It was unclear exactly how many he would get the opportunity to dispose of, but every one dead was one less obstacle in his path to become God. His paranoia was a huge part of his thinking process, but his trust in his Future Diary outweighed it. he just hoped that nothing came so close to losing it as it had that day on that roof. The sky had been orange, and his Murder Diary had told him that his next victim, Yukiteru Amano, one of his own students, would meet the bitter end on that roof. Unfortunately, Amano and his psychotic girlfriend, Yuno Gasai, had somehow gotten the drop on him, and very, VERY nearly came close to destroying his anchor to life. After having a dart dig itself into his jacket's sleeve's outer layer, his paranoia took over and he retreated, knowing that the two of them just **had **to have Future Diaries of their own; why else would Amano have taken aim at his cellphone?

_**That** _had been an unwanted and unpleasant surprise. Next thing he knew, he was in a gigantic floating room with what was supposedly God sitting on a throne in the middle with him and around a dozen other people making a circle all around the room's outer rim. The had all been silhouettes to him, so he could only pray that he appeared as nothing but a black and purple outline to them. The God, Deus, went on to explain that all of them were to participant in a Survival Game; the last one standing would be his successor and the new God of Space and Time. That was fine with him. Killing people had always been a passion of his, and it being part of a mad game made no difference whatsoever. In fact, a chance encounter gave him what he believed was a distinct advantage; he had cornered what turned out to be an owner of an Apprentice Diary, and discovered the Eighth Diary owner. he would kill her soon enough.

Now, he simply waited in the shadows provided by the trees and bushes he took cover behind. That, combined with the now set sun, gave him plenty of coverage, and the whole situation was even more in his favor since nobody was around at the moment. He crouched down behind the shrubbery and unzipped the duffle bag which contained the getup for his alter-ego. After putting on the wide-brimmed hat, gas-mask, thick black gloves, and finally his explosion- and bulletproof overcoat, he grasped his trusty signature weapon and observed it. Incredibly sharp, and dangerously long, it was a very long knife with two perfectly circular holes in the blade. He took one more check at his Murder Diary...

**Entered the temple through the front gates, nobody seemed to notice me at all. Those who did, I disposed of them.**

No other precaution were taken, or... _would _be taken? He found this to be rather risky and suspicious, but again his faith in his Murder Diary was the victor in the dispute. He discarded the bag and rose to his full height. While not that much taller than most men his age, he was noticeably broader. So he still succeeded in giving off a very intimidating presence. After tightening the grip on his blade, he set off towards the temple gates not even a hundred yards away.

He walked through the massive wooden gates completely unmolested. After making sure his coast was clear, he couldn't help but notice just how serene the grounds were. It was like the entire place was a zen garden. He looked around to see that he was still alone out there, and flipped open his Diary. Nothing new was on the screen. His eyes narrowed, but he closed the phone and put it back safely within his overcoat.

Keeping a strong hold on his knife, he continued making his way into the temple grounds. He continually and warily looked to his sides, keeping an eye out for unwanted attention. Much to his surprise, not that many people were out and about, and the few that were around couldn't possibly spot him in the darkness with only the moon providing light. Still, he was behind enemy lines, so he made a note to kill whomever his Diary specified, and then make a run for it before it became too late to safely escape.

**XXXXXX** **Underground Prison XXXXXX**

Yomotsu Hirasaka, now donning his vigilante costume, put his hand up to the outside of his head-covering mask so that it was close to his ear as to listen very carefully to his Righteous Diary; the sudden crackling that had emitted from it moments ago told him the future was about to change. He listened to the voice that was his own speak to him...

**The serial killer was seen wandering the temple gardens. He was closing in to kill Sixth and two other young people...**

"Hmm," Yomotsu thoughtfully moaned to himself.

"What did it just predict?" Minene asked somewhat loudly from the cell she was in.

"Things are very likely about to get rather ugly," Yomotsu answered. Remembering where he had placed the keys to she shackles and cell, grabbed them and tossed them towards her. "If you don't want to get involved in it, hurry up and get away from this place." As he lumbered out up the stone steps he whispered to himself, "I hope I can stop him in time..."

**XXXXXX Temple Grounds XXXXXX**

Hiyama couldn't entirely grasp the situation as he pulled his blade out of his latest victim's chest. Whenever he did happen upon a member of the cult, they just moaned and lumbered around, like something out of a horror movie he had watched as a child. Nevertheless, he did **_not _**want any witnesses of his presence, so he simply shoved his large knife into either their heads or chests, leaving them to bleed out and die horribly. After each victim, he simply moved onto the next. He stopped counting after the tenth one or so. After dispensing of a man and his wife, he again checked his Murder Diary to see if any new information on his prey had been added...

**Blocked the First, Second, and Sixth's path on a walkway to my west.**

He smiled wickedly behind his mask as he again closed his phone.

**XXXXXX**

The Second and Sixth Diary owners, Yuno and Tsubaki, were staring at each other with open and blatant contempt.

"Yukkii, she's deceiving you!" Yuno said venomously without breaking her gaze with Tsubaki.

"Bullshit, you delusional bitch," Tsubaki retorted.

Hiyama listened to this entire argument from the shadows below on the ground, directly beneath the walkway the trio were standing on. He thought to himself, _Maybe they'll simply kill each other? No, I can't leave an opportunity like this to chance; eliminating three of my competition with a single swipe of my mighty blade!_

He grinned excitedly and drew forth his giant knife. Just as he was readying to hoist himself up onto the wooden walkway, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He instinctively looked over his shoulder and was surprised by what he saw. A man, who appeared to be either very thin, or very anorexic, dressed in what looked like a black spandex suit with a utility belt and a very loud mask. It reminded Hiyama of a giant eye.

"Hello Third."

After hearing what had to be the Third drawing what was surely a weapon, Yomotsu raised his left arm and backhanded the Third's weapon out of his hands; this was confirmed when he heard it land with a small thud in the dirt about six feet away. He heard a faint whooshing at his frontal right, which had to be Third preparing to throw a punch at him; the serial killer had to be wearing very thick clothing. Yomotsu raised his right hand and caught Third's fist in it. The murderer was very strong, but so was he, the Righteous hero! Third strained, trying to push his way forward, but after a second Yomotsu noticed his opponent's force lessened and he heard another whoosh, this time to his left. He raised his other arm, and again Third's fist was caught in his bony hand. The two of them stood there, stalemate.

"Who the Hell are _you?" _Third asked. Yomotsu discovered that his foe, like himself, was wearing a mask seeing, or more accurately, hearing as his voice was muffled.

"I am Twelfth!" Yomotsu said triumphantly but quietly, not wanting to gather any unwanted attention whilst facing the man who was surely his nemesis. "Owner of the Righteous Diary, and the man who will bring you to-"

He was cut off when he heard a scream of pain from above.

Hiyama also was enthralled with this and looked up at the wooden walkway above him and his strangely dressed adversary. He then heard a teenage girl scream in agony, **"MY ARM!"**

While still hearing the screams and whimpers overhead, Hiyama and his opponent slowly lowered their heads and looked at each other. Hiyama couldn't tell what the apparent Twelfth Diary owner was expressing, but his own veneer had a bemused sense to it. Then, when a thud reached their ears the two men looked over and saw the First Diary holder lying facedown on the ground. The two men just stood there as the teenage boy lifted himself up and looked over to them. They must have been quite a sight: two full grown men wearing masks and costumes in the middle of a fight. it was obvious the boy recognized Hiyama, for he looked at him for a fraction of a second, let out a frightened yelp, and ran off. Not wanting the boy to escape him again, Hiyama drew back his left fist out of Twelfth's hand, and thrust it forward, effectively punching him in his masked face. Now free from the freak's grasp, the Third Diary owner grabbed his knife and took off after his next victim.

**XXXXXX**

**A/N: **Well there you go. I wrote the first part at this point because it was what first came to mind. I will most probably include the school hostage/bomb situation in an upcoming chapter...

Oh, and case you're wondering, yes, the husband and wife Hiyama killed...


End file.
